The Misadventures of the Adventurers
by TheSadGuy666
Summary: 'Well, it's the end of days and we're all going to die. May as well go out in style,' thought the infamous cat-thief. 'Though I'd rather have fled through the sewers when I had a chance. But noooo, we just had to be the heroes. Heroes are so overrated... and so very underpaid.' Too bad his life is never as easy as he wants it to be; it's full of twists, turns, and a lust for gold.


"Are you serious? Why would you go out of your way to help them? They have their little 'heroes' that they so blindly favor and put their trust in! Let these fools trust in them and let us leave while we still have a chance! There's no reason for us to stay here and die with these… inglorious simple folk."

"You are aware that this is my oath? Preserving balance—for good or ill—is always my priority, even at the cost of my life. That is my way."

"Well… yes, but—"

"And you are aware that should I help them, you would obtain the drakes you've been waiting for? You might even receive more. You could persuade the baron out of some magical item, or two, I think. Imagine all that gold at your disposal. I think you could manage to finally repair that heirloom of yours."

"That's still no reason to stay here and endanger ourselves for their sakes! We don't know—nor care—for these people! We should leave before things become more troublesome than they already are."

"You know this annoys me. I don't travel to _not _practice my arts, so stop this. You can come with me and help, or you can stay here and wait with your head between your knees like a frightened kitten."

"Grrr… I am no kitten, and I am no coward. I am simply suggesting we choose the option available to us that ends with us most likely surviving. We can earn gold and respect another day if we survive this ordeal."

"I won't accept that I left this challenge unmet. It is my oath, Ja'sarr. Are you coming with me, or not?"

"Fine, fine you wretch! Just mark my words! If we die, I will haunt your ghost for eternity, Vala! I swear upon my ancestors!"

"You're so understanding, fish-breath."

"You—!"

The two bickering individuals halted as the ground shook and the few people out on the streets of the suffocating township fled screaming into their homes, most likely to barricade the doors in the hopes that a few feet of wood and stone might spare them from a horrible demise. A deafening boom echoed through the streets a moment after the shaking subsided, and glass shattered at the decibel, causing the feline Ja'sarr to wince and angle his ears backward, away from the sound. Fighting could be heard outside the walls—along with screaming of men and women trying to protect the town. Every few moments a fiery barrage of rubble would appear over the walls before crashing through the roofs of the clustered buildings inside the walls. Fires were burning out of control. The chapel—once so neatly pristine and glorious presiding over the mundane town—was now a slowly burning, collapsing ruin rife with horrid human wails of agony, and the poor souls who sought refuge by their god's graces who were slowly being crushed to death in the ruins of the house of prayer. The massive, ancient gates at the entrance to the town stood as a gradually cracking, clanging monument to observe the destruction. It was obvious that there was a powerful force on the other side of the gargantuan gate attempting to rip it from its hinges on the town's walls.

"Are you done arguing? If we don't go now, we are going to die where we stand," calmly spoke the serene human woman.

"Fine! Get on with it, Vala! And _try _not to get hit this time while I'm trying to keep you alive," retorted the male feline being, drawing an arrow from his quiver and pressing it on his bow.

The woman nodded as she left for the gatehouse with her companion hot on her heels; the gatehouse was a narrow series of rooms that led through the wall as a garrison for the guards who had now vacated it in order to fight outside the walls. It was devoid of any guards now, the duo found as they entered the first of the guard rooms, and even their supplies had been picked clean. Ja'sarr shuddered at the thought. If dozens of guards couldn't handle things around here, what were he and Vala going to do? They would die alongside those swine! There was no honor to be had in death! He'd rather swim through the sewers again and get as far away as possible to prevent himself from dying, he'd even—

"Ja'sarr! Calm down!" Vala whispered at him with a narrowed glance. "We've dealt with them before. We'll be fine. You won't even have to get close to them with me here."

She was always so strong and stoic even in the direst of circumstances. Although her condescending, placating demeanor always irked him, he admired her inner strength, something he lacked.

"R-right. Let's just hurry," he responded after a moment of his eyes darting around wildly, expecting _something _to jump out at him from the nearest corner. He vaguely noticed that Vala nodded at him before she continued.

After another two empty rooms, they had reached the exit to the outside of the walls. There were loud sounds of a harsh battle in progress, and a horribly hot, crimson light shining through the open doorway. Vala ran forward and glanced through the arched stone doorway at the scene before her. The verdant forest that surrounded the once-peaceful and secluded town was ablaze and awash with blood—the blood of both human and beast. There stood a massive demonic gate, like a portal into the fieriest, most daunting depths of hell (which in all likelihood had been from where it originated). From the portal poured hordes of monstrosities, the beings that mortals most commonly referred to as demons, of all shapes and sizes. They slayed and slaughtered their way through the defenses of the town watchmen, who were losing ground quickly but not without drawing equal blood for each foot lost to them. It was a noble, if futile, effort of man to protect his home and from devastation. Vala saw everything in a moment and knew that it would fall upon her and her companion to stem the tide of darkness. Though it would probably kill them both—something that she knew Ja'sarr would quite literally haunt her forever for—she knew it was necessary to try. She knew, and she knew that her companion knew, that they would be outrun in the wilderness by these demons once they had destroyed the town. There was no escape after the hell hole had opened outside the town walls, though Ja'sarr was determined to believe there was still a chance at survival by fleeing. She knew what she had to do, even if her instincts bid her otherwise. The hairs on her neck stood on end and she felt a chill cause her spine to shiver in primitive fear as she left the cover of the garrison and sprinted towards the tide of evil, magic energy collecting in her fists…

Vala's feline companion stopped for a moment to consider fleeing as he watched Vala engage the enemy. He couldn't deny now as he could not many times in the past that he did want to flee. But a part of him, a small and irrational part of him, reluctantly admitted that she was his ally, perhaps even his only friend and that he would be miserably bound against his will to do the sentimental thing and protect her, if not the townsfolk he protected by proxy. He growled at himself and drew his bow fully before taking aim and releasing the deadly projectile and watched with grim satisfaction that it deeply pierced a powerful, lumbering demon through the eye, one that was close to destroying another guardsman in the little defense that remained. The guard saw the feline archer and rallied his men, claiming that their gods had sent reinforcements and that they would win this battle. Ja'sarr snorted in contempt, but continued to draw on his bow and let his arrows fly while the monsters were distracted with the closer targets. He vaguely noticed that Vala was ripping through them like paper—not that he expected any less from her—and that she didn't really need assistance. A very rare arrow was needed from time to time when she was overrun from all sides in order to protect her, but with the militia at her back, she only had to deal with enemies within view.

Both realized as a few minutes of battle passed that the torrent of demons would not simply stop, even if they were all killed, more and more would continue to pour out of the hell hole. Neither knew what lay on the other side of the gate, but neither was inclined to discover. They realized as their weapons and magic bounced off the portal's frame like leaves on bricks that there wasn't a way for them to halt this flood of evil… they knew that with each shadow coalescing in the portal's depths came another threat, part of an endless horde… they knew they were doomed, and no amount of bravado or cleverness would deter that fact. They made eye contact with each other, a primal fear rarely seen was obvious in Vala's face as another deafening noise echoed through the forest and a dark shadow began approaching the portal from the other side, and the ground shook and groaned in agony as the earth was being ripped apart from the demonic energy coursing through it. The portal shuddered and groaned loudly as if it were about to birth a vile creature larger than any it had yet produced… The fear in her face was reciprocated by Ja'sarr's own face as each pointed their gaze towards the demonic portal as the militia continued to fight the demons around them… then there was fire…

And then… there was no noise for a moment. The demons were dead, the portal was closed, but there was a new figure standing there…

"No, no, no! Not you again! GODS DAMN YOU!"

"Hey! You're the wretched cat-thief who stole my horse!"

END NOTES:  
This was just an attempt to get my creative juices flowing since I haven't had much luck working on my main stories as of late. Technically this is just a bit short of fanfiction (and more along the lines of an original story), but it's relevant enough to be considered fanfiction. This is initially a one-shot story just to get the ol' imagination working again, but if people like it enough I may add a few more chapters whenever I feel the need is necessary. I suppose for the moment that all characters introduced are original.


End file.
